Dance repertoire

The English Quadrille's normal repertoire concentrates on social dances that would have been featured in ballrooms during the years 1760 - 1914. When performing on stage, an element of choreography is sometimes introduced to make the spectacle more meaningful to an audience. At period balls, the other guests are drawn into the simpler dances under the expert guidance of Ellis Rogers.

At the start of our period, the minuet, gavotte and selections of earlier English country dances were still extremely popular, but the 1780s saw a growing interest in allemandes and cotillions, developing into the quadrille by 1800. This dance form, which gives the group its name, involves four couples taking turns to create complex patterns on the dance floor.

The allemande, developed in France from the German landler, itself gave way to the more robust movements of the waltz, which shocked society in the early 1800s by encouraging couples to dance closely face to face. In fact much waltz music was used for 'country' style dances involving two or more couples dancing together.

The great years of the waltz came with Josef Lanner, Johann Strauss I, and his three talented sons. As the years progressed from 1830 to 1900 the waltz speeded up, and dances of Moravian and Polish origin: the polka, mazurka and polonaise, all gained in popularity. Quadrilles continued in importance, often featuring popular operatic tunes.

By 1900, a musical revolution was taking place, and 'Ragtime' dances reached the more respectable ballrooms by 1910. As in all their perfomances, English Quadrille members make the most of this opportunity to present dancing as fun!

English Quadrille with the Keith Nichols Ragtime Band at Brodsworth Hall.